So, it looks like I am finally going to get my own sewing room. I started quilting seven years ago and managed to carve enough room from the corner of my DH's office in the basement to put a 6x3' table for my machine, cutting, etc. There is a 2x3 set of wire drawers that is 6' high and a shower curtaing rod that we have hung from the ceiling that I can put things to get them out of my way but my chair does have to sit under one end. There is a plastic fence thing that we have put up to discourage the children from going in there since it is one big open room to their play room. Doesn't work so great anymore now that they are big enough to climb over but it sort of reminds them most of the time. Also, everything always has to go away since my DH has to be able to run his home business right behind me.

So, we finally found a house that we both like enough to put an offer on. He will finally get his own office and I will get my own "studio" space. My room will be 13x10'. One of the 10' walls faces east and is a bank of windows. One of the 13' walls has a 2' window right in the corner at the SE corner. The other 13' wall has the door in the NW corner.

So, finally to the discussion. The room will be painted. What colour is particularly helpful to a quilting room? What kind of blinds would be particularly good for this type of room? What sort of "furniture" should I be looking for. Basically, have some fun designing a quilting room from scratch! Oh, and I pretty much have no stash so large amounts of stash storage is not currently necessary but I could see the possibility of the need in the future and there is not a closet in the room. I would be considering a long arm of some sort in the future too.

Thoughts?

Tara

Congrats on the new house and the special room. My first thought was "wow I love the idea of so many windows" my second was, "cover them up before they ruin your fabric!"

So, whatever you do, remember that your stash has to be protected from the light. Even a small amount of sunlight will cause a light spot where everything is folded.

i would do a white or cream on the walls so the color doesn't interfere with your quilt designs.

i would also get drapes that will block out all the sun from the windows.

it will discolor your fabric unless you plan on keeping your stash away from all sun.

if thats the case just get a heavy drape to hang over the design wall to keep the sun off the designs you'll have on it.

The windows I fully admit are a mixed blessing. I live a seven hour drive north of the 49th parallel. Our summers are short and not very hot for very long. Our winters are long and cold (think -40 for a combined total of about 100 days a winter). Our shortest day has 6 hours of daylight, our longest (June 21) has 18 hours of daylight.

So, the little bit of sun we get in the winter, you want to enjoy in some way but large banks of windows like that also transfer a fair bit of the cold in.

For the blinds I was kind of thinking the honeycomb style blackouts for the "R" factor but also putting in the ones that can be raised from the bottom or lowered from the top to control the sun that does get in.

Maybe putting cabinets on the south wall so the side of the cabinets would be getting the direct sun in the morning.

The floor is already a dark brown hardwood.

Tara

Long arm probably not in that room!!LOL Mine is 14x12 and my "mid arm" is only set up to do twin and smaller. No room to turn around.

Think vertical for storage, add a sewing desk and some sort of long cutting table. Embrace the windows with shades that can be pulled when the light is not needed. Take up the carpeting if you have it and put down some sort of vinyl or hardwood.

Many others will have more ideas, have fun!!!

Congratulations that will really be something to look
forward to.
Marilee

How lucky you are. Think of your space like a kitchen layout. You want to have a triangle work space. Design wall first, sewing table near it Iron station left or right side next to the sewingmachine. cutting table near the fabric storage area. It does't realy matter where your stuff is placed in the room, just that they work together. You will probably rearange your stuff a couple times before you get it set the way it works best for you. Blinds on the windows a must! My big thing was having enough electrical outlets for all the gadgets, and no carpet. It is to hard to clean. One other thing is that I have no drawers in my studio. Everything is on the walls so I know where it is. Enjoy the process.
Peace :D

Long arm won't fit in that space with all the other things. Keep your color neutral. A creamy white or soft beige because the room will be smaller after it is filled. Accent with your favorite color!

I can't help much with the furniture and things, but I do know that if you eventually have a stash of any size, you're not going to have enough room for long, and a long arm definitely won't fit. My old sewing room was 20x20, I sure do miss it, because my "new" sewing room is 9x15. Once we get the GD through college, we'll build a bigger home with a large enough sewing room, but that's at least 4 years away.

Congratulations on the purchase of your new home.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-132159-1.htm
Here is a link to my sewing room redo that might give you some ideas. I also have a wall in there with a huge window. Since I work alot in there in the nite. We are going to put folding doors on it. That way in the daylight I want the sun. At nite I can close the window up tight. And my sewing room is a lemon yellow. Good for creative thinking and motivation. Even when its cloudy outside there is sunshine on the inside of the room :D Enjoy your process. You may lose sleep for all the ideas that keep popping up.lol